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Why the MBA Still Matters to Entrepreneurs
These days, prospective students might not find much use in an MBA.
Most recently, the Graduate Management Admission Council found that 70% of two-year full-time MBA programs in the United States saw a decline in applications. And that even includes top b-schools like Harvard Business School, Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, and Wharton.
But Jatin Bhandari, founder of InterviewNinjas (an information e-commerce platform for MBA aspirant) and PythaGurus (an MBA admission consulting firm in India) view the value differently.
In a new article for Entrepreneur, Bhandari argues that an MBA can make an “already entrepreneur” more resourceful and capable of creating success in a venture or any business he or she wants to start.
“Although [an] MBA independently cannot shift someone’s mindset, they need to start depending on your own actions to create a livelihood and gain success,” he writes. “But it can significantly help the existing entrepreneurial genes in a person and help them in creating a huge success out of their venture.”
Developing Rock-Solid Business Plans
One of the most important benefits of an MBA is its ability to teach entrepreneurs how to develop rock-solid business plans, Bhandari says.
“Everyone has an idea and everybody’s neighbor has an idea to, but one needs a strong structure and a plan to put that idea and make an enterprise out of it,” he writes. “An MBA helps one understand how to build a strong business plan that can measure the effectiveness of the actions the teams will take in order to scale an organization.”
Leadership Skills
An MBA can also teach people how to lead and motivate their team, Bhandari argues. And that’s especially important for entrepreneurs.
“People tend to look focus on early-stage companies in the wake of financial uncertainties,” Bhandari writes. “Not just employees but even the founders tend to chase easy money at the cost of long-term goals, and it can hamper the growth plans or the whole purpose of the existence of the organization.”
In b-school, Bhandari adds, MBAs are exposed “to a wide variety of chaotic cases and situations, and train entrepreneurs to deal with these situations in a simulated environment.”
B-schools have also crafted entire programs out of teaching students leadership skills.
For instance, at IMD Business School, leadership training is integrated throughout its MBA program.
“This means that students get a lot of very practical experiences relating to both formal and informal leadership skills,” Mansoor Iqba, QS TopExecutive, writes in a Washington Post article. “In addition to this, they get a lot of feedback – from coaches, psychologists and peers, as well as from the whole MBA team. They can then put that feedback in place right away so as to try and create something different tomorrow.”
Credibility and Network
Perhaps one of the greatest assets an MBA can provide is the ability to network and gain credibility.
And that door opens even more if you attend a top b-school, Bhandari argues.
“If you go to a top school, the view of the world changes,” he writes. “Although I wish the world did not operate like this, the reality is that – Just because you are associated with a top school, the world thinks that you are very likely to make the right decisions. Investors become more open to meeting you, people become more open to working with you, and customers tend to believe you more with a rock-solid MBA.”
On top of that credibility, Bhandari says, it also opens the door to an exclusive network of connections.
“An MBA also brings a solid network of people who graduate from your school, and you get to find business partners, mentors, friends, and customers from this network,” he writes. “You also get access to a very premium club that can bring a lot of resources in this world to your doorstep.”
Sources: Entrepreneur, Washington Post, Graduate Management Admission Council
Aerial view of the London Business School
Be Curious, Be Humble – Getting Into London Business School
Want to get into London Business School?
It might help to ask more questions.
At least that’s what LBS dean François Ortalo-Magné says he values in prospective students.
In an interview with Business Insider, Ortalo-Magné highlighted a few important traits he seeks in prospective candidates.
“The more curious people don’t have so many answers,” Ortalo-Magné tells Business Insider. On the other hand, less curious people “know what they want. So they meet the dean and they are really keen to convey what is it that they know.”
Curiosity is Key
Ortalo-Magné says that LBS seeks out those who are curious about the world.
And while he says there’s nothing wrong with knowing a lot, LBS is catered to those who are curious.
“It’s just we are a much better community for people who come with curiosity,” he tells Business Insider.
That sense of curiosity is especially important when it comes to the MBA interview. Even more LBS isn’t the only top MBA program that values curiosity.
Chad Losee, managing director of MBA admissions and financial aid at Harvard Business School, says he’s interested in getting a sense of how applicants think and what they care about.
“We don’t feel that people need to come in with a life plan already mapped out, but we do like to get a sense for how people think about the decisions that they make,” Losee tells US News.
The Importance of Humility
Another key trait Ortalo-Magné highlights is humility.
And humility is an important trait to many b-schools.
Kari Graham, director of graduate admissions at the University of Denver’s Daniels College of Business, says some of the most memorable interviews she’s had with applicants are ones where they convey what they’ve learned from their mistakes.
“Those are usually the things that make us better people and hopefully better students,” Graham tells US News.
Stephanie Fujii, the former director of admissions at Berkeley-Haas, rings the same sentiment.
“A candidate who can express his or her achievements and potential without being boastful, and can reflect on both successes and failures with humility and awareness is more likely to be admitted and more likely to thrive in our program,” she tells Forbes.
Sources: Business Insider, US News, Forbes
(LtoR): Governor Charlie Baker, President Lawrence Bacow, Seth Klarman, Beth Klarman, Dean Nitin Nohria. Photo: Susan Young
$120 Million Building Introduced At Harvard
A brand-new building was christened at Harvard Business School Monday.
Klarman Hall, the b-school’s latest conference center, made its debut this week, The Harvard Crimson reports.
Costing around $120 million, the building will be used for “class events, musical and artistic performances, and smaller “more intimate” discussions.”
Funding was provided by Seth and Beth Klarman. Seth A. Klarman received his MBA from Harvard Business School in 1982 and is CEO and portfolio manager of The Baupost Group, one of the largest hedge funds, according to Forbes.
The Innovations
Klarman Hall will feature state-of-the-art technology including a 32-million-pixel screen—the largest of its kind in Boston, according to HBS spokesperson Brian C. Kenny.
The center will also include recording studios for podcasts and webinars as well as a black box room for filming, which will be used by HBX, Harvard’s online extension school.
The project kickstarted in 2016 and replaces Burden Hall, an older conference center that can no longer hold capacity for the b-school’s growing community.
“Harvard Business School and Harvard University more broadly have tremendous convening power,” Kenny tells the Crimson. “To have these kinds of substantive conversations about real issues that are affecting the world…we can have a global conversation out of a facility like this.”
Sources: The Harvard Crimson, Forbes
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